


Redwood

by TheMulletWhisperer



Series: Regulations be Damned [5]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, IT'S NOT A PHASE IT'S ART, Jewelry, LAY OFF ME DAD, More Fluff, Oh yeah also fluff, Shopping, Yes I Write a Lot of Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 23:50:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMulletWhisperer/pseuds/TheMulletWhisperer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There's nothing really here that will deeply impact future story of the whole overarching plot, these two just needed aimless fluff to fluff up their lives without anything really that serious.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Redwood

**Author's Note:**

> There's nothing really here that will deeply impact future story of the whole overarching plot, these two just needed aimless fluff to fluff up their lives without anything really that serious.

“Oh this is shiny! No...oh my gods, this is beautiful, I want that, buy me that!” If Arkved had known just how painful shopping with Galina would be, he would’ve stayed in bed all day. Come to think of it, he’d probably be wishing that right around now either way. It was already midday and they’d spent most of their time in Falkreath, shopping, talking, drinking. It was tiring!

For now, though, to Arkved’s dismay, they were in some newly-opened, combination shoppe, with, admittedly well-crafted, jewlery on one side of the store, and various weapons on the other. All of which seemed deliberately fashioned to catch Galina’s eye for shiny things, as she was darting around the room at a mile a minute, rambling something that the Altmer really wasn’t paying attention to.

Not even the owners of the shoppe were listening to her anymore, staring across the room with a vacant look that Arkved had always assumed they reverted to when there wasn’t at least two purses of coin at stake. 

Thanks to his inattention, as Arkved snapped out of his trance, he looked down at Galina, who was standing in front of him with an armful of ‘supplies’, what looked like a twisted mace with no practical use other than decoration, three necklaces of varying metals, inlaid with various jewels and engraved with various patterns, as well as two rings on one hand, and three on the other, presumably to gain the upper hand in any fight she entered. 

“So uh...can you get this?” Galina performed her best impression of the ‘Puppy dog eyes’, which--even though it wasn’t very  _ good _ , per-se--melted Arkved’s resolve into nothing. Besides, his family was filthy rich and just happened to send him a small amount of their monthly earnings. 

He pulled out a bar of gold, the heaviest item he was carrying, and set it on the counter without even looking at the bill. “I trust this will cover things?” As always, he tried to sound cool, calm, and collected, but it came out as polite, kind, and well-mannered. Perhaps he wasn’t cut out for this whole ‘Being an Altmer’ thing. 

Nonetheless, the shopkeepers gladly accepted the payment, likely resolving to split it by means of their soul-rending canines. They bid an empty farewell to the two as they left, but they were mostly focused on stroking the gold bar in front of them.

“So...where to next,” Arkved queried, looking around the quaint little town. In Falkreath, the atmosphere was always temperate, the birds always chirping, the flowers always blooming, the mosquitos always biting, and the wolves always hunting. There was nowhere else in Skyrim that Arkved would rather be.

“Hmmm,” Galina contemplated their next move as she carefully placed everything into the unfeasibly large satchel at her side--something she had to make due with in her normal-people clothing. “Oh! I know. Come on.” Ready or not, she reached out and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the gates and completely ignoring his surprised sound.

“Where are we going?!” His voice seemed curious, but a bit panicked.

“Just come on!” Offering nothing more, the both of them passed through the gates, earning odd looks from the guardsmen. Initially, Arkved had been worried that the both of them might be caught, due to the Imperial allegiance of the town, but she’d reassured him that her and the guard had quite the understanding. It’s not as if the Empire actually  _ liked _ the Thalmor enough to try to turn in a measly escaped prisoner.

After a rather long walk, and a sweaty palm on his bare arm, Arkved and Galina arrived at a massive redwood tree, reaching up and touching the sky itself. There were other trees in the forests surrounding Falkreath such as this one, but it almost felt...special. It was certainly old, it looked to be almost a thousand years so. It may have even lived to see the 2nd Era...what a thought.

The wild speculation was cut short by Galina pulling on his arm again before letting go and motioning towards a rather small (compared to the size of the tree, it was really quite large) nook, allowing him to sit first. With pleasure, he did, longing to get off of his feet after such a long day.

Galina followed, setting her bag down and clambering into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting the side of her head on his shoulder. With a dumb grin that he was utterly unable to suppress, he kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her, running his fingers along her bare, muscled, and toned forearm.

“I used to come to this tree a lot as a little girl. Try to climb it, I’d always fall off and pout here. Eventually I just...gave up and started coming here to relax, get away from the stress, the pressure. It’s always been my favorite spot.”

Even though the story was rather abruptly-timed and spontaneous, Arkved hung onto and archived every word that she said for future reference, just in case it was brought up again, or he needed to know it for some kind of pop quiz that he heard women gave.

“Did you ever get to the top of the tree?” 

She shook her head with a mix of sadness and resignation, “No, never did. I might someday, but not anytime soon. I’ve always wanted to climb it, to see the view from up there, and I’m sure I could now, but it’s dangerous, and I have more important things to do.”

With a raised brow, he looked down at her. “Like waste time cuddling with a Justiciar under a childhood redwood tree?”

He had a point, and she knew it, as she floundered for words before finally giving up and admitting it. “Yeah, yeah, okay, you’ve...got a point. Just not today, I’m tired.”

“Oh,  _ you’re _ tired?”

“Yeah, I’m tired! I’ve been out all day entertaining you!”

Feigning an indignant scoff, he pointed his nose upwards to the fresh spring breeze. “Hmph! I’ll have y-you know, I’ve uh...been the one entertaining you!”

“You know you’re still miserable at that whole haughty thing, right?”

Arkved rolled his eyes, looking down at her. “I’m working on it!”

“Uh-huh, yeah. Sure. C’mon, let’s stay here a while before we go back. I forgot how nice this place was.”

“Gladly.” He leaned over and kissed the top of her head again, going back to simply holding her and listening to the sounds of the forest.

It seemed, however, she was a bit too warm, as his head lolled back and his eyelids forced themselves shut. Without control, he fell asleep, likely to the pranking pleasure of the Nord in his lap.


End file.
